Medway students impress at Science Olympiad

Wednesday

Feb 5, 2014 at 12:01 AM

By Zachary ComeauDaily News Staff

MEDWAY - Dozens of high school students channeled their inner Albert Einstein Tuesday afternoon at Medway High School, where Medway students took the first-place medal in three out of five competitions at the Science Olympiad.Along with Medway, students from Oliver Ames, Stoughton and Bridgewater-Raynham Regional high schools competed in the ultimate test of science knowledge.The five competitions were Chemistry Lab, Circuit Lab, Entomology, Material Science and Disease Detectives.Medway Science Olympiad co-president and senior Alex Callahan and his teammate, senior Chris Ostaszewski, tackled the Chemistry Lab with confidence, winning the first-place medal.Teams were required to weigh out a specific amount of magnesium ribbon to mix in a flask with hydrochloric acid, which then should create a gas to inflate a balloon fixed onto the flask.Working through equations and the periodic table of elements, the two were also able to correctly answer written questions – more accurately than any of the other teams.As an Advanced Placement student in physics and Chemistry, Callahan said he wants to study biochemistry after he graduates in the spring."If you enjoy science, this is a nice way to casually learn about it and have fun," he said.Also first-place winners, seniors Lauren Getz and Alyssa Whitaker came out on top of the other teams in the Disease Detectives competition."Go science!" said Advanced Placement biology student Whitaker, who was nose-deep in the scientific method to determine the cause of a disease outbreak.The competition that gave most students fits – even club treasurer and junior AP physics student Andrew DiBiasio – was the Circuit Lab.Using three batteries, wires and switches, teams had to create a circuit, which would allow two switches to each turn a light bulb on and off."I think I’ve got it," DiBiasio said two minutes before time was up, clad in a T-shirt depicting Einstein sticking his tongue out in various colors.But only one switch was able to turn the light on and off and DiBiasio and teammate junior Ben Lagan could not sift through the mess of wires, equations and schematics in the 50 minutes allotted for the entire competition.As the only junior taking AP physics, Dibiasio found solace in the fact that he won the competition last year."We haven’t covered this in class yet," he said defeatedly.Students from Medway also took home the first place medal in the entomology category, where teams had to identify insects, their biological classification and their potential effect on humans.Zachary Comeau can be reached at 508-634-7556 and comeau@wickedlocal.com. Follow him on Twitter @ZComeau_MDN.